PODCAST: Suez Canal blockage adds insult to injury for chemical markets already starved of supply

BARCELONA (ICIS)–The closure of the Suez Canal is heaping further pressure on chemical supply chains which are already suffering from product shortages amid strong demand.

• Suez blockage adds to market woes caused by shipping container crisis; US, Europe and Middle East outages; semiconductor shortage
• No sign of easing – supply more important than price
• Cargoes stuck include base oils, methanol, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), polyethylene terephthalic (PET), monoethylene glycol (MEG), acetone and bisphenol A (BPA)
• Pressure builds to make supply chains more robust
• Global base oils markets dry; situation is critical
• Chinese imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) collapse

Interview with Eashani Chavda, John Richardson and Nigel Davis.

Editor’s note: This podcast is an opinion piece. The views expressed are those of the presenter and interviewees, and do not necessarily represent those of ICIS.

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Interview by Will Beacham